Spain's new influencer law criticised for being a missed opportunity to protect minors

[Dimaeiya333]

The Spanish government's proposed new law to stop influencers from promoting harmful products would apply to a small fraction of the country's content creators, representing a missed opportunity to regulate a rapidly growing profession, critics say.


Key points on the criticism of the new influencer law in 2024
Unlike other countries, Spanish regulations would apply only to influencers with a number of followers equal to or greater than 2 million and who invoice at least 300,000 euros.
This regulation brings with it a series of implications for brands that will have to be more cautious when looking for influencers to develop collaborations.
According to data from Koslquare, in Spain there are only 96 KOLs (Key Opinion Leaders) with more than 2M followers on YouTube with at least 5% of their audience in Spain, and 26 KOLs with more than 2M followers on YouTube with at least 30% of their audience in Spain.
What does the Spanish bill on influencers say?
Following in the footsteps of France and Italy, Spain has published a draft law t quality directors email database hat would impose harsh penalties on influencers who publish harmful content.

The regulations that are part of the code seek to protect minors from harmful content. Influencers with more than 2 million followers will be classified as "users of special relevance" and will be restricted from advertising products such as alcoholic beverages, tobacco, electronic cigarettes, slimming products, sanitary products or those that promote an unrealistic body image and cosmetic surgery. Advertising for games of chance and betting by users of special relevance will also be restricted to publication between 1 and 5 in the morning.

But unlike the laws in France, which apply to any influencer who makes a commercial profit from creating content, the Spanish regulations would apply only to influencers with a number of followers equal to or greater than 2 million in aggregate across all platforms they operate and who earn at least €300,000 in gross annual revenue from content creation.

However, all Spanish influencers who provide audiovisual communication services, regardless of the size of their communities, are required to clearly label collaborative content with brands under the changes introduced to the Unfair Competition Law in 2022 .

“The recognition that the growing influencer marketing industry in Spain should be subject to specific regulations to protect users is a step in the right direction, but this law does not go far enough,” comments Kolsquare founder and CEO Quentin Bordage.
"The proposed laws do not reflect the reality of the market. It is disappointing that legislators have not seen fit to apply regulations intended to protect minors from harmful content to smaller creators, who today represent a significant investment for brands."